Keep the volume down, don't sell alcohol illegally, and keep parties off the streets are among the main messages London police and Western University's Student Council are pushing leading up to St. Patrick's Day.
The annual Irish holiday on Friday will see thousands of green-clad revellers dominate the downtown and hold countless house parties in areas around Western University and Fanshawe College. To help keep a lid on festivities, London police have been watching chatter on Twitter and Facebook.
"We have been monitoring social media accounts and responding for invites to parties, reminding the community of various laws so that everyone is aware of the possible consequences. We want to remind the public to have fun, but do so responsibly," said Constable Amy Phillipo. "The day of, police will be following activity on social media using the hashtag #dontinviteus2urparty."
Extra police officers will be on the streets throughout the day, breaking up parties that are on the verge of becoming a problem.
"We will be looking for alcohol being illegally sold, other liquor licence act violations including intoxicated in public and urination in public. Also we will be looking at noise complaints and impaired driving will be targeted," said Phillipo.
Reaching out directly to students, Western's University Students’ Council (USC) has been pushing out its own message of safe St. Patrick's Day celebrating via social media. It's a message USC President Eddy Avila believes is being well received.
"No one has a combative response when you tell them to remember to be respectful, know your rights, stay safe, and take care of each other. They have been receptive and we are going to continue to spread our message as Friday approaches," said Avila.
A free campus event on Thursday will teach students about sexual violence prevention and consent.
"It's an educational piece. We want to make sure students are being extra careful. It's important considering it might be a little bit of a high risk scenario when alcohol is involved," said Avila, who went on to say he trusts students will make good choices and be respectful on Friday.
The proactive approach is meant to prevent a repeat of the out of control 2012 Fleming Dr. party turned riot that saw more than 1,000 booze fueled partiers hurled objects at police and set fire to a TV news truck. In the five years following the riot, the number of charges laid, offence notices issued and warnings given has dropped.
